$10 Million for Police Station on Ballot

NORTHAMPTON – Thanks to a unanimous City Council vote on July 8, voters here will get the chance to vote Nov. 2 on whether the city will borrow $10 million to partially pay for the construction of a new police station on Center Street.

If the measure passes, $10 million of the total $17.6 million project cost would be financed by a debt exclusion override, authorizing the city to borrow funds and pay them back through higher property taxes for the life of a 20-year bond. The rest would be paid through regular borrowing, and would not affect the city’s tax rate.

The $10 million borrowing will add $80 to the tax bill for an average single-family home during the first year and decline over time, said Mayor Mary Clare Higgins. The mayor and City Finance Director Chris Pile told city councilors last month that, if the ballot question fails, the police station project will be shelved.

“If we use up all of our debt capacity to build the police station we’re not going to get to anything else,” Higgins said on Thursday, in reference to projected capital spending through 2028. “The override is what will really help us to pay that debt and get to other capital projects, such as roads and drainage.”

While several councilors voiced support for the project, Ward 3 Councilor Angela Plassmann and Ward 7′s Eugene Tacy expressed concern about spending. “This is a difficult decision for me to vote on,” said Plassmann.  “We’ve already asked voters just last year to take on a higher financial burden,” she said, referring to a $2 million Proposition 2½ override approved in 2009 to fund schools and other departments.

“This is a slippery slope,” said Tacy. “I will support putting this on the ballot, but there’s going to have to be a big discussion.”

Northampton Police Chief Russell P. Sienkiewicz has been saying that the police department needs a new facility since he became chief in 1994. In 2003, a needs assessment was conducted, and in 2006 a police station building committee was appointed. The Central Business Architecture Committee and the Planning Board approved the project’s design in 2008.

Last month, Sienkiewicz conducted a tour of the current police station, located at 29 Center St., where he pointed out for Northampton Media the cramped office conditions, inadequate evidence and record storage space, an outdated computer system, dysfunctional heating and cooling, water damage and basement flooding. (See related story)

The police department is preparing a campaign to promote the need for a new station, and the department’s web site will soon feature an in-house video tour of the old station. “I want to dispel all of the myths and misinformation that’s out there about this project,” Sienkiewicz told city councilors last month. “I’m here today to ask you to give the citizens of Northampton the opportunity to vote this project up or down.”

Audio: Police facility discussion in Finance Committee—Higgins, Pile, Sienkiewicz, Councilors

Building plans for the proposed police facility can be found on the City of Northampton website.